The strange saga of the women’s featherweight division continues to get stranger following champion Germaine De Randamie’s refusal over the weekend to fight #1 contender Cris Cyborg. According to De Randamie’s manager, the reason behind this is steroids, and her belief that Cyborg is a career long user of them.
Now Germaine has taken to social media to further muddy the waters, declaring on her private Instagram account that she plans on returning to the women’s bantamweight division next rather than defend her featherweight belt.
Here’s the text of those posts, translated (via Champions.co):
Dear All,
It’s been a while since I posted something. But because of the commotion that I have come to feel, I feel the need to hear something from me and to clear the air (as far as possible). It is absolutely not so that everything that is said makes me do nothing. Also, I am a human being and I also have feelings. Despite the fact that I’m always positive, the comments make me more than I had hoped. The positive but also the negative.
The fight between me and Chris Cyborg was offered to me last November. Even then, I had all my reservations but I accepted the fight. Chris Cyborg has rejected the fight because she could not get the weight of 66 kilos in twelve weeks time. One month later, she was visited by the USADA and did not pass the test. The rest of the story is known.
My reason for rejecting the fight now has nothing but nothing at all to do with my fear.
I believe that if you want to do sports you do this without any means that can affect the muscle mass. I – as a top athlete – always trained, always watched my food and put 18 years of my life on sports, without using just one means that is not allowed.
Everyone has his or her opinion on this and that may. But that people think to know what my motives are / do not put me in the cold clothes.
And a second post:
I work full time and irregularly, which takes a lot of time. In addition, there is still a lot of unclear about my hand. I have an appointment with the doctor on 14 June, and it will be decided whether or not to be operated. This option should also be considered for me because there is a great chance that my tendons / nerves can cause such damage that I could not use my hand more optimally.
During the negotiations on the battle with Holly Holm, I said in advance that after this fight I want to return to my natural weight class of 61 kilos. My task has not been completed yet
The UFC has promised me that this would be no problem and I can just return to my natural weight class.
This is why I am focusing on this moment.
When I fell in love with the martial arts 18 years ago, I had 1 goal. Share my great love with others who have the same love for martial arts as me !! This is my goal and will always remain my goal.
I want to thank everybody who has always stood before me and still support me through thick and thin !! You guys rock.
For all the haters; Two Baths !! “The IronLady” is far from done
This obviously has a lot of fans scratching their heads wondering what the hell is going on. De Randamie had to know that the winner of her fight with Holly Holm for the inaugural 145 pound belt would end up facing Cyborg, yet she accepted that fight willingly. But now that she has the belt, she’s become completely unwilling to face the only other woman currently signed for the division. The whole thing makes no sense whatsoever, and is only compounded by De Randamie wavering between needing hand surgery and returning at 135 pounds.
UFC president Dana White has implied to the press several times now that the women’s featherweight division is a mess, and now we understand a bit more as to why. On one side, he’s got De Randamie refusing to defend the belt. On the other, he’s got Cris Cyborg sucker punching fighters two divisions down and acting like she’s got one foot out the organizational door on social media. It’s gotten so bad that many believe the UFC might just scrap the entire division as a giant mistake. That’s how much of a botched job it’s looking like right now.